How to convert a date to UTC string in JavaScript

To convert a JavaScript date object to a UTC string:

1. Use the toUTCString() method of the Date object.
2. The toUTCString() method converts a date to a string using the universal time zone.

const date = new Date()

// Date in the local time zone
console.log(date.toString())
// Sun Jun 20 2021 16:36:21 GMT+0500 (Pakistan Standard Time)

// Date in UTC time zone
console.log(date.toUTCString())
// Sun, 20 Jun 2021 11:36:56 GMT

Alternatively, you could use the Date.UTC() method to create a new Date object directly in the UTC time zone. By default, the Date.UTC() method returns the number of milliseconds since January 1, 1970, 00:00:00 UTC.

In the following example, we use new Date() to convert the milliseconds into a JavaScript Date object.

const date = new Date(Date.UTC(2021, 5, 20, 12, 44, 20))

const utc = date.toUTCString()

console.log(utc)
// Sun, 20 Jun 2021 12:44:20 GMT

If you need to have the returned UTC string in ISO-8601 format, use the toISOString() method instead:

console.log(new Date().toISOString())
// 2021-06-20T11:40:39.937Z

The toISOString() method returns a string in ISO-8601 format (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:mm:ss.sssZ). The time zone is always UTC, as denoted by the suffix Z.

Read Next: How to get current time zone in JavaScript

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